With the Crane Operator certification deadline of November 10, 2017 looming, and training issues unresolved, OSHA is proposing to extend the deadline for certification of Crane Operators one year to November 10, 2018.

The current rule requiring 3rd Party Certification of Crane Operators became an issue in 2013. OSHA received feedback from stakeholders that some of the certified training organizations were interpreting the requirements for training differently. Stakeholders complained that the expensive certifications required by the standards, as interpreted by the training organizations, did not ensure competency. With that concern employers were still having to do additional training and evaluations of supposedly certified operators to ensure their competency. OSHA held stakeholder meetings and April of 2013 and agreed that the concerns were valid and that some certifications issued under the original rule might be non-compliant for many operators.

This newly proposed rule change only affects the current Crane and Derrick standard 1926.1427. Rule 1427 contains the original compliance dates and certification options and deadlines for Crane Operators that were previously extended until November 10 of 2017. The proposed rule as published extends that deadline one year to November 10, 2018.

OSHA is also extending the requirement that the employer ensure current crane operators ‘have the required knowledge or ability’ to safely operate cranes during the one-year extension period. Where employees cannot demonstrate that ability, employers are required to ‘train and evaluate’ them to ensure they can operate safely.

Stakeholders can send their comments to OSHA regarding the NPRM until September 29, 2017 through the OSHA comment portal at OSHA.gov. The Federal Register notice can be read below